Whitesands flood scheme withdrawal bid 'reckless'

The plans would see a £25m defence put in place to protect the Whitesands which is regularly flooded

A last-ditch attempt to get a council to drop £25m flood protection plans has been branded "reckless" and "foolish".

Conservative councillors tabled a bid to withdraw from the Whitesands project in Dumfries this week.

They claimed it was clear the scheme did not have "widespread community support" and should be ditched.

Labour council leader Elaine Murray said the authority was obliged to take part in an upcoming public inquiry and could not withdraw at this stage.

Opponents say the proposals do not enjoy community support

The motion to drop the scheme was put forward by Dumfries and Galloway councillors Malcolm Johnstone and Ian Carruthers.

They argued the scheme was not supported by the community, and the inquiry - due to start in November - would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Their case was backed by Conservative MSP Oliver Mundell who said the response to a petition against the plans had been "astonishing".

He supported other options including dredging the River Nith and a moveable barrier which rises with water levels.

'Do homework'

"The council highlight the large amount of Scottish government money going towards the bund but that should not be a reason for building something which will damage the town for generations," he said.

"The reality is that if the bund does go ahead, the £25m of public money used will stop more worthwhile projects being funded in the area in the future."

However, the council leadership said it had no choice but to rule the motion incompetent as it would have led to the authority breaching its statutory duties.

Ms Murray said: "The Conservative group and their local MSP really ought to have done their homework before submitting this foolish motion.

"Perhaps it would have been sensible to examine the provisions of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act.

"The Scottish government have called a public inquiry, the council are obliged to take part and neither the government nor the council can withdraw at this stage."

The plans will be taken to a public inquiry later this year

She said it was "nothing other than reckless" to have suggested the move.

The council's deputy leader, the SNP's Rob Davidson, added: "The Conservative motion, supported by Oliver Mundell, was incompetent in every sense of the word."

He questioned why they were keen to shut down an "objector-led public local inquiry" while arguing for further public engagement.

"Why on earth are they so opposed to an independent, public examination of the facts?" he asked.